The Truth Behind The Mask
by Hobohunter
Summary: After the pendulum has stopped turning... After Aizen has left Karakura Town... Someone returns that has past connections to the Soul Society, and most importantly to Ichigo Kurosaki. Chapter 7 is up!
1. Collisions

Chapter 1

"Ichi-nee wait up!" screamed Yuzu at her older brother. He turned around and rolled his brown eyes at her.

"Come on or we'll be late!" he said in an annoyed voice. Yuzu finally caught up with her brother and grabbed his hand.

"Will you stop being a baby?" asked Karin as she walked.

"I'M NOT BEING A BABY!" pouted Yuzu. She stuck out her tongue at her sister.

They continued walking downtown looking at all the stores. Yuzu stuck her face in one of the windows and beckoned Ichigo and Karin to come see.

"What're they doing in there?" she asked as she watched. Karin took a look trough the window and sighed.

"They're just making different types of candy. That's all." Yuzu's eyes widen as she looked up at her brother.

"Ichi-nee, will you buy me some candy?"

"I think that's a fine idea Ichigo." said a voice from behind. The three Kurosaki's turned around only to see Rukia Kuchiki. Ichigo flipped out and pointed at her accusingly.

"Wh- what're YOU doing HERE?" Rukia's back stiffened and she pulled out a handkerchief. Mysteriously a spot light fell on her and the background darkened.

"Why Ichigo, how could you be so cruel to your friend?" she wiped away at her fake tears. Yuzu grabbed Rukia's unused hand and squeezed.

"Ichi-nee, how could you do that to her. She's your friend!!" Karin and Ichigo's faces became dumbstruck as they watched the act in font of them.

"I-I...I just came downtown all alone to see the stores. I wanted to buy Ichigo a really nice gift." she wiped again. Yuzu's eyes filled with tears as she looked at Rukia, but when she looked over at Ichigo her eyes became inflamed.

Ichigo turned on his heel and continued down the street. He ignored all the stares he was getting because of the color of his hair. After all, he was used to it after all those years.

No one else had the same colored hair as him in his family. Karin and his father both had black, and his mother and Yuzu both had brown. Why was he stuck with such a strange natural hair color?

He glanced back at his sisters and Rukia, they followed him like stray puppies. Rukia seemed to be back to 'normal' from her little episode. Ichigo looked at Karin and saw horror spread across her face.

"ICHI-NEE WATCH OUT!" she screamed as she saw the car almost collide with her only brother,

After that all Ichigo saw was blurs and stars. He didn't feel the collision at all, he only felt his body smack to the concrete. After his head stopped spinning he saw his sister's crying at his side. He wasn't dead?

He sat up and saw that somebody pushed him out of the way. There was a female form sprawled in the middle of the street. He stumbled up to get a better look at it. The only thing he could notice besides it was female was her flaming orange hair.

He walked closer to her and she turned over. Her brown eyes stared into his. He heard her whisper something.

"...Kaien?" she then drifted unconscious.

Ichigo looked over at Rukia and his sisters. Rukia was holding Yuzu and Karin's hands as she looked over the unconscious woman. She let go and walked closer to her. She squatted down beside her and stared at her face. Then back at Ichigo, then back at the woman.

"Would you please move Miss Kuchiki, Ms. Kurosaki needs to be taken to the clinic." She turned around and saw Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi.

"Kurosaki?" asked Ichigo

"I guess it's time for you kids to meet your Aunt Rei." Tessai lifted up Rei and slung her over his shoulder. He looked back at Ichigo and started to speak.

"We're taking her to your house. You should follow us." Ichigo looked up at Tessai and became confused.

"W-wait, how do you know her?" Kisuke walked past sighed, he turned around and stared at Ichigo. "Let's just say we're old friends."

A/N: Um this is my first Bleach fanfic. I normally write Resident Evil ones. But I'm gonna take writing classes so I've expanded on what I'm goin to write. I wrote this for but I wanted to post it here too. I hope you guys like it!


	2. Questions

Chapter 2

Ichigo and the other's were just about to the front door when Isshin opened it. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and looked at Kisuke.

"Where'd you find her?" Kisuke removed his hat and stared at Isshin in the eyes.

"She was downtown, she pushed your son out of the way of a moving car." Isshin grunted and looked at his children.

"Go to your rooms. I need to speak with Mr. Urahara." Ichigo and his sisters walked upstairs and went to their rooms. Rukia went into Ichigo's room and stood by the door.

"Ohhhh SISTER RUKIA!!" screamed the small lion doll. He lunged his stuffed body at her and was swatted away.

"Kon, now is not the time!" snarled Ichigo.

"Stupid Ichigo! Who says that you can talk to me that way?" Kon stuck out his chest and pounded it.

"Kon, please be quiet." whispered Rukia towards the plush. Kon fell silent and watched Ichigo.

"How can she be my Aunt? I've never even met her before! I haven't even heard of her!"

"Wait, what? An AUNT? Is she your Dad's sister? Is she HOT?" asked Kon.

Kon thought of how Isshin had saved him from Grand FIsher. How Dr. Isshin Kurosaki was actually a Shinigami, and an ex-Captain no less.

_"Then that means that Aunt Hottie was a..."_

"Shinigami!" screamed Kon. Ichigo grabbed Kon by the throat and squeezed.

"You're right Kon! Since my father is a Shinigami and she's his sister..."

Ichigo found out about his Father being a Shinigami a few weeks earlier. His father helped the Gotei 13 run Aizen out of Karakura town. It wasn't a real surprise to Ichigo. Rukia said that his power must have been dormant, and when she gave him her power it awakened.

"I have to talk with Dad." Ichigo got up from his bed and went downstairs to the clinic. He went to the door which his father and the others were behind and turned the knob.

"Locked?"

--

Tessai placed Rei on the bed and Isshin walked over to her. He placed his head on her forehead.

"So Kisuke what do you think was wrong?:"

Kisuke walked up beside Isshin and pulled out something from under his jacket.

"It seems that her gegai had some trauma to the brain and she lost her memories. She's been living in the US."

"US? She's been in America this whole time. I thought that she was dead."

-Flashback-

_"Isshin I'm gonna go buy Ichigo something. I'll be back later!" said Rei in a sing-song voice._

_"Wait Rei, are you sure that's ok?" asked Masaki._

_Rei turned back and swatted her hand up and down._

_"I'll be fine, I feel great. I need to get out of here for a little bit." Rei walked out of the house and went on her way._

_A few hours later Isshin became worried for his sister._

_"Masaki, will you watch Ichigo for me? I'm worried about Rei. Something's wrong." Isshin handed over baby Ichigo and hastily went to look for his sister, He walked past the river and saw something strange. A large puddle of blood and a shopping bag drenched in it, He opened the bag and saw a stuffed bear inside. Also a baby book with 'Ichigo' scripted across._

_Isshin fell to his knees and looked at the river. Someone had attacked his sister and threw her in the river. But who? Or what?_

-End Flashback-

Kisuke grabbed Rei's arm and let it fall. And he did the same thing to the other.

"Her gegai is pretty worn out. I bet that's why she came back to Japan."

"I thought she had amnesia?" questioned Isshin.

"The gegai's that I made have a special beacon inside that tells you to come back to my shop when the gegai is almost unusable. She's been in this one for 15 years. I'm surprised it lasted this long. But then again, she helped me make this one after she came to Earth."

There was silence between the three as they looked at Rei. Then the door handle tried to turn, but it was locked.

"Ichigo."


	3. Reunions

Chapter 3

Isshin walked to the door and flicked the lock, he then grabbed the knob and opened the door. Isshin looked at his son and smiled.

"Why don't you go visit your Aunt for a while? Kisuke's gonna take her to his shop later to get her a new gegai. " Isshin gestured Ichigo to come in and had him sit in a chair.

Ichigo looked over his Aunt and saw the resemblance. She had the same hair color, and the same eyes when he saw them before. She was just a little bit shorter than him height wise. They looked a lot alike, but there was some character flaws. Also she didn't look that much older than him., she looked around twenty-ish Either than that, Ichigo would say that she looked like him with a wig on.

His Aunt shifted a bit and opened her eyes. She looked over at Ichigo and sat up straighter. She gathered her surroundings and looked over at Isshin.

"Brother? Brother!" she leapt from her bed and hugged Isshin. He shut his eyes and hugged her as hard as he could to make sure she was really there.

"Rei, I thought you were dead." she let go and let out a huge smile. It reminded Ichigo of the smiles he'd give whenever he saw his Mother.

Rei hit her head with a fist and laughed. "I guess this prototype gegai still had a few kinks to work out."

She looked dover at Kisuke and frowned. "You still have the other one I was working on right? This one was too overused."

Kisuke shrugged his shoulders and looked at Tessai. "Maybe I do, and maybe I don't. But I do have a new line of gegais you can try out until we make you a new one."

"New one? What happened to my old gegai?" Rei put her hands on her hips.

Kisuke looked around the room and nervously laughed. "I uh... I uh just wanted to test it out and uh..."

"He accidently destroyed it." said Tessai.

Kisuke turned his back to Rei and felt the death glare she was giving him.

"Destroyed HUH? You destroyed MY gegai? You're going to make me a new one just like it- NO A BETTER ONE. FOR FREE."

"Free? I gave you the materials for the first one anyways." screamed Kisuke to her face. She got up on her tip-toes and shouted in his.

"Well maybe if your dumbass didn't destroy my extra I wouldn't have you make me one!"

"Uhhh... guys?" said Ichigo in a small voice.

"WHAT!?" screamed the two in unison. Rei looked over at Ichigo for a while and let go of the chunk of Kisuke's clothes she grabbed.

"... Ichigo?" asked Rei.

Ichigo crossed his arms and looked at her. "Yeah, whatdoya want?" he retorted.

Rei walked over to him and hugged him tightly. He didn't know why, but he wrapped his arms around her automatically. It brought out the feeling he had when his mother use to give him hugs, warm and caring. Rei was the first to let go and looked at his face.

"You've grown up so much since I last saw you." Ichigo looked at his Aunt and actually smiled.

"You knew me when I was little?"

"Only a few days after you were born. Then Aizen sent someone to kill me, but I fell in the river while I was using my newest invention."

"Invention?" asked Ichigo curiously.

"Yes, I created this orb, and when you throw it down, it teleports you to anywhere that you want!" Rei pointed her finger at Ichigo and then tapped her forehead. "But I guess I was thinking of the US somehow before I lost my memory..." Rei turned around and looked at Kisuke.

"We need to get to your shop as soon as possible. Ichigo, you and Kuchiki come with us. We're gonna need you to protect his shop for a little."

Ichigo's smile faded as he looked at his Aunt.

"What, why? And how did you know that Rukia was a Kuchiki?"

"I knew she was a Kuchiki because she looks just like her sister, Hisana." Rei walked to the door and turned the knob. She was then face to face with her nieces and Rukia that were eavesdropping.

Rei arched her eyebrow as she looked at the girls. She smiled and hugged Karin and Yuzu.

"You two must be Masaki's, you look just like her! By the way... where is she?" Rei looked side to side and didn't see her sister-in-law. She looked back and Isshin and saw grief in his eyes.

"Oh... I understand." she let go of her nieces and smiled.

"Well I have to go to Mr. Urahara's now. I might stay there overnight too..."

"Wait!" screamed Yuzu. "Why don't you stay with us? You can sleep in our room!"

"That room is so crammed full of crap." replied Ichigo as he looked at Rukia.

"Are you implying that I am this 'crap' that's in their room?" asked Rukia as she crossed her arms.

"Ok. Well I'm gonna go now. Ichigo and Rukia, please come with us to Kisuke's." said Rei as she tried to avoid the bickering. Rei exited the room and the others followed.

--

When they reached the shop Jinta and Uryuu were standing in front. Jinta crossed his arms as he watched Kisuke approach.

"And just where were you?" asked Jinta coldly,

"We were over at the Kurosaki's." replied Kisuke. Jinta's ams fell down and he gaped at him.

"You mean you went to see the Goddess without me?"

"Goddess?" asked Rei as she looked at the red head.

"Y-YOU. You're alive?" Rei crossed her arms and looked to the side.

"You sound surprised Jinta." stated Rei. She looked over at Uryuu and smiled.

"Well hello Uryuu, keeping Jinta in check are we?" Uryuu nodded and looked at him.

"She's not checking on me!" screamed Jinta.

"Well you sound a little embarrassed kiddo." replied Rei. She shrugged her shoulders and walked past them.

"Kisuke you better get this over with. Ichigo and Rukia, please stay outside and watch for hollows."

"Hollows? What?" asked Ichigo.

"When I'm removed from my gegai my reiatsu will be released. That'll attract a ton of hollows to here."

"Come on, your reiatsu isn't that strong." stated Rukia. Kisuke coughed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well actually..."

"Let's get this over with, I'm about to collapse." said Rei sternly.

"I'll help the guys watch for hollows." said a voice from the roof.

They looked up and saw a black cat sitting on the roof top. It jumped down and transformed into a woman.

"Yoruichi Shihoin, long time no see." said Rei as she looked at her old friend.

"You don't look a day older than when I last saw you." replied Yoruichi

"Well I guess that's a good thing." grinned Rei

"Alright reunion over. We need to get you in a gegai NOW." Kisuke pushed Rei into the store and slammed the door. Tessai gently opened in and entered as well.

"Alright you two, are you ready to fight some hollows?" asked Yoruichi cooly.

"Uhh." replied the two in unison

"Ichigo you idiot!" screamed a voice. Ichigo felt a small tap on his head. Kon tried to do a flying kick, but it was no effect.

"Your Dad told me I had to come all the way here because you FORGOT me! SIster Rukia, Ichigo is so cruel!!" Kon was holding onto a dispenser of Soul Candy while he whined. Rukia ripped the tube from his hand and pressed on Chappy's head. Instantly her soul was ripped from her body.

Ichigo quickly snatched Kon and shoved his hand down his throat. He pulled out a pill and quickly swallowed it. He too, was torn from his body.

They waited for the hollows, but they never came. Tessai came outside, he pulled off his glasses and cleaned them with a handkerchief.

"Mr. Kisuke said to ready in a few seconds. You'll know when it's time." Tessai replaced the frames on the bridge of his nose and walked inside.

"How are we gon-"

Immense pressure came out of no where and hit them like a bomb. Ichigo looked over at Rukia and saw that she could hardly move. What was stange was that he could move fluidly like there wasn't any pressure at all.

"Ichigo, NOW!" screamed Yoruichi as hollows filled the sky. She jumped off and started taking on the hollows.

"Great." groaned Ichigo.


	4. Exorcisms

Chapter 4

Ichigo and Yoruichi started to excorise the hollows that were closing in on the shop. Ichigo used Zangetsu with ease as he sliced through the white marrow masks. After the pressure was lifted, Rukia also began clearing out the area.

"Damn there's so many!" exlaimed Ichigo as he sliced through two hollows at once.

"Her reatisu is very addicting to the hollows. It's always been like that." screamed Yoruichi

"Well then I guess they'll just have to work for their meal." they looked at the entrace of the shop and saw Rei.

She wasn't wearing just a shihakusho, she was also wearing a white captains coat. It had the long white sleeves that stopped at her wrists. She ripped open the coat and unsheathed her zanpak-to. She jumped from the porch and sliced through a group of hollows. Ichigo looked at the back of the coat and saw a daffodil symbol.

"Oh come on, don't leave me hangin' guys!" she gracefully landed on the ground on one foot. She stabbed underneath her arm and hit a hollow directly in the head. A group tried to jump her, but she moved quickly and hit them with a single sweep.

"Really, these low class hollows are rather boring." Ichigo jumped in front of her and started attacking them one by one.

"You need practice kid. You're swordsmanship isn't very good."

"Shut up and stop criticizing me!" huffed Ichigo. He swung Zangetsu by the cloth that was at the hilt. He sliced off a few limbs from the hollows and replaced Zangetsu in his hands.

"How was that?" he snickered. Rei squinted her eyes at his remark.

"That was quite foolish. You need to do that when there aren't any of your comrades around." she sliced though another hollow. "You don't want to decapitate them, now do you?"

Yoruichi and Rukia watched as the two Kurosaki's exorcised the hollows. Kon and the other mod soul came over to watch them battle against them.

"Ohh sure your wearing a white Captains coat, that means you're the expert?" said Ichigo sarcastically. Rei quickly stopped and stared at him.

"That's it exactly. You hardly have any skills of a Shinigami. All you have is agility and brute strength. You're just winging it when you should have some thought to it." Rei sliced through the last hollow and sheathed her zanpak-to,

Ichigo stared at his Aunt and watched her closely.

"If you want I can train you. I'm a better teacher than Kisuke, you'll at least have a better chance of not dying."

"Hey, I'm and EXCELLENT teacher." screamed Kisuke.

Rei was walking back to the store when a voice called out.

"Ex-Captain Shiba, Captain Yamamoto wants to have a word with you." Rei turned around and saw Captain Byakuya Kuchiki with Lieutenant Renji Abarai.

"Why little Byakuya, I'm no longer married, so please call me by my maiden name."

"You are to come with us to Seireitei immediately.

"Shiba?" asked Rukia as she stared at Rei

"That's the end of this conversation. I will go to the soul society, but I will not stay there." Rei walked up to Ichigo and patted his shoulder.

"I'll come back this time." she whispered as she walked past.

"Wait! I'm coming too!" screamed Ichigo. "Kon, go home and don't get into any trouble!" Ichigo caught up to Rei and walked past Ba.

"Open the door!" said Renji into his mic. A pair of wooden double doors opened and light shown from behind. Rukia ran up to them and followed through the doors as well.

Once on the other side they ended up in the middle of Seireitei, Rei placed her hand over her brow to look around.

"Ahh it never changed."

"Follow us immediately."

"Ahh come on Byakuya. You don't have to act like that!" pouted Rei. "This nobility thing is a real pain in the ass!"

"You will not talk to me that way. You will address me as Captain Kuchiki." Rei put on a sarcastic face as she walked behind him.

"Jackass." she whispered.

They continued to walk closer to the court where Yamamoto was at.

"What do they want with her?" asked Ichigo to Renji.

"Apparently your Aunt was thought to be dead for sixteen years. Yamamoto wants to talk with her."

"Wait, they thought she was dead?" asked Rukia

"They thought it was a hollow attack." said Rei in a 'scary' voice. Apparently she snuck behind them and was listening to their conversation.

"But why?" asked Ichigo.

"You'll find out soon." Rei stayed in the back of the group as they continued to walk..

They finally reached the gate and were let in. They walked in and Ichigo saw all the Captains and Lieutenants of the Gotei 13. Byakuya and them walked past, but Rei did not enter. She stood in the door frame and looked at Yamamoto calmly.

"Rei Shiba, please enter." Rei sighed and entered the court. Some of the Captains stared at her as she passed.

"Please do not call me by Shiba, it's Kurosaki."

"As you wish. Now we would like to know why you left the Gotei 13." asked Yamamoto.

"Well..." Rei rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. "I did get attacked by a hollow, as you all know." Kyoraku and Ukitake nodded their heads.

"And I guess I went to Earth afterwards and stayed there. Then I got attacked again, and my gegai malfunctioned and I lost my memory."

"Why did you not try to contact us the first time?" he questioned.

"Well it would have been better if Aizen thought I was dead."

The room became silent as they listened.

"Why did you not inform your husband about this?"

"He knew everything. He agreed with me on all of my choices, even pretending that I was dead."

"I see... well then, I will ask you this one question, and think of your choice wisely." Rei grunted and nodded approval. "Will you consider being a Captain again?" Rei held onto her breath as she heard his question. She then exhaled and looked at Yamamoto.

"I'm afarid I can't do that sir." she stated sternly.

"Becasue of your family?"

"No sir, the Soul Society does not accept my kind here."

"We accept you whole hearltidly. All you did was leave-"

"No... you don't allow... Vizards here." Ichigo stared at his Aunt as he saw Vizard slip out of her mouth.

There was a dark omnoius feeling in the air.

"Vizard?" said Yamamoto loudly,

"Yes, I was transformed into a Vizard just like all the others. I went to investigate Aizen because Kisuke and the others warned me of him. I was foolish enough to go alone, and the price of that was becoming one of them."

"You're Reiatsu has grown enormously since the last time. This would explain it."

"Captain Yamaoto, I don't deserve to be called a Captain anymore, nor a Shinigami. Please take this back." Rei removed her white coat and held it out with her hand.

"Captain Shiba... Kurosaki!." screamed Toshiro. Rei turned around and saw the boy Captain; the prodigy.

"I see you took over my position. I knew that you would ever since Matsumoto told me about you. I'm glad that you're finally are gaining some responsibilities."

"Rei Kurosaki, I will ask you one more time. Become a Captain again, for the sake of the Gotei 13." asked Yamaoto.

Rei looked down at her coat and smiled.

"It looks like you're going to have to get me a new coat since I wont be the Captain of squad 10 anymore."

Ichigo smiled as his Aunt accepted the position.

"But I have a favor to ask of you."

"What would that be?"

"I want to continue to live in Karakura town and watch over Ichigo. I will come here everyday, but I will also go home and be with my family."

"It shall be done. We need you to watch over Karakura town from Aizen... Now will all non-ranking officals leave the court."

Ichigo and Rukia looked around and saw that they were surrounded by all the ranking members. Ichigo sighed and went over to the door.

"Hey Aunt Rei, I'll be outside waiting for ya." Ichigo and Rukia exited the room.

"He looks so much like him." said Ukitake to Rei.

"Yeah, it's a little scary isn't it?"

"I'm sure that he's proud of him."

"I know that he is, he always was."

"Now we will talk about Ichigo and the other Vizards." stated Yamamoto.

"I believe you're going to need to talk with Kisuke Urahara too. Also it wouldn't be a bad idea to have Ex-Captain Shinji Hiraka and the others here."

"Rei-"

"They know a lot more about Aizen than I do. They also helped you guys out in Karakura town. Without them the Soul Society would be nothing."

"We're already here Rei-chan." Rei looked back and saw Shinji and the other Vizards. She smiled and looked back at Yamamoto.

"We've all been waiting for you to return Captain Kurosaki."


	5. Memories

Chapter 5

-Flashback-

It was summer time, the sun was shining and the birds were singing. The wind was slightly blowing across the field that the young couple were laying in. They were watching the clouds after they had one of the many picnics they'd share together.

"Look at that one honey, it's a dragon!" exclaimed the woman. She sat up on the blanket and squinted at the sky. She looked down at him and scruffled his spiky black hair.

He sighed with contentment and moved one of his arms so he could lay on it.

"I think you're right about it being a dragon. But look at the one over there." he pointed to the right with his free hand. She quickly turned in the direction and gazed at the sky with excitement in her eyes.

"Where?" she ogled the clouds for the puffy shape of an animal. "I don't see anything." she frowned and continued to stare at the sky.

"Then what about this?" she turned around once more and saw him holding a small black box, He opened the tiny black cube and it contained a tiny band of gold with a single diamond on top.

"Will you marry me?" he asked quietly. She sat there in silence as she stared at the glittering gem. She finally realized what he'd asked her and she looked up from the box.

"You want to marry me?" she choked out. He whispered back "More than anything."

She rubbed at the tears that were in her eyes and shook her head continuously. She put a huge smile on her face and looked deep into his eyes.

"Of course I'll marry you!" he gripped her hand and placed the ring on her finger. He moved in closer to kiss her, but was interrupted.

"Oniisama? HEY ONIISAMA!! WHERE ARE YA!?" he laughed silently and looked back behind him.

"Why does my imouto always ruin everything?"

-Second Flashback-

"Ichigo?" asked the woman unpleasantly.

"Yeah, that's the name I want for our first son, 'Ichi' means number one, and 'go' means guardian." he took a sip of his drink and wiped his top lip. She scowled and then smiled sweetly.

"Do you know what Ichigo means in English honey?" he squinted his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.

"Nope. I have no clue." he rested his hand under his chin and watched her.

"It means STRAWBERRY! I DON'T WANT MY FUTURE SON TO BE NAMED AFTER A FRUIT!!"

"Hey you can name the girl how about that?" he gave her a lopsided grin.

"Maybe I don't want to have children with you." she said sarcastically. He pulled her in for a hug.

"Well maybe I should find a new fiance. I bet there's tons of cute girls I could meet and-"

"Ahh shaddup and give me a kiss." he didn't refuse and leaned in to kiss her.

"Maybe-" he whispered

"Oniisama!! OOHHHH Oniisamaaaaaaa!!"

She chuckled and kissed his cheek. "We'll talk about the future baby's name later. I have to get back to work." she ran off in the opposite direction and waved good bye.

"It'll be Ichigo for sure!" he screamed to her.

"Who's Ichigo?" asked the girl at his side.

"My future son."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"That's a dumb name." the girl's brother looked down at her and smiled maliciously.

"That was the wrong thing to say imouto." he bent down on his knees and started to tickle her ribs profusely,

"Oniisama stopppp!!"

-End of Flashbacks-

--

"Hey Ichigo, what're you doing here?" asked the voice of Ikkaku. "And who was that woman with you?"

Ichigo shrugged his shoulders and answered his question.

"That's my Aunt Rei. She's gonna be a Captain again."

"Captain? What do you mean, she was a Captain?"

"I've only heard of one captain Kurosaki." replied Yumichika as he flipped his hair. "And that turned out to be your Father."

"Yeah I guess she was a Shiba before, at least that's what they called her." Ichigo scratched the back of his neck.

"Captain Shiba... Captain Shiba." said Ikkaku. He tapped his lips as he thought of who she was. "CAPTAIN SHIBA! Your Aunt is Captain Rei Shiba?" gasped Ikkaku. Ichigo was taken aback from his sudden outburst.

"Uhh that's what I said." Ikkaku blinked a couple of times and took a step back.

"I don't freaking believe it."

"I've never even heard of her being a Captain. I was even squad 13 when she was supposed to be a Captain." stated Rukia.

"Rei didn't live in Seireitei when she was a Captain. She was the only Captain that lived out in the country. She wanted to get away from her ex-husband. Also she wasn't one who like to stand out in front of others."

"Huh who said that?" Ichigo looked back and saw Yoruichi along with Kisuke.

"How the HELL did you get in here Urahara?" questioned Ichigo loudly. Kisuke cleared his throat and adjusted his hat.

"I was pardoned by Captain Yamamoto for the time being. He wants to talk directly to me." Kisuke walked away from the group and entered through the doors.

"Well he seems a little nervous." stated Yoruichi.

"My Aunt was divorced?" asked Ichigo. Yoruichi grinned and rolled her eyes.

"Or course, they can get divorced here too."

"Who was her ex-husband?" asked Rukia quietly. Yoruichi turned her back to them and sighed.

"You'll just have to ask her that question. I'm not at liberty to say."

--

"Congratulations Rei-chan on becoming a Captain again!" Shinji smiled at her just as he constantly does.

"Thank you Capt-" Shinji coughed to interrupt her. She blinked and restated her comment. "Shinji. What are you doing here? Are you captains again too?"

Hiyori scoffed and crossed her arms.

"No dumbass we're not." Shinji took his fist and slammed it on the top of her head.

"Don't talk to Rei-chan like that." Hiyori placed her hands on her head and scowled. She started to kick off her flip-flop to beat Shinji with, until Captain Yamamoto sighed loudly.

"We're here to discuss-"

The doors to the room creaked open and Kisuke appeared in the crack. He slowly moved into room and rubbed the back of his head and nervously laughed "Ehhehe am I late again? I'm never on time am I?"


	6. Confrontations

Chapter 6

Kisuke walked forward in front of the Captains and stood next to Rei. He fidgeted a bit and removed his hat, he gripped it in both of his hands and looked forward at Yamamoto.

"Kisuke Urahara, we would like to know more about the Vizards and what you expect Aizen's next move to be."

Kisuke looked over at Rei and coughed nervously. He straightened his back and sighed.

"What would you like to know?"

"Can we return the Vizards back to normal?"

"No. They're fused down to the core- it's impossible. But..."

"But what?"

"There was one case where I suppressed the powers of one. But it also suppressed his spiritual powers as well."

"And who would that be?"

"I think you are fully aware on who that Vizard might be."

Ukitake started coughing profusely while the others were talking. Rei walked over to her old friend to see what was the matter.

"It seems your sickness had progressed over the years. Do you want me to take you back to your quarters?" she asked kindly.

Ukitake waved his hand and coughed out "No, I'm f-" he started his coughing fit again.

Rei rolled her eyes and grabbed onto Ukitake, she reached for the bag that was tied to her belt and pulled out a blue colored ball. She them slammed it into the ground and they disappeared instantly.

Mayuri quickly walked over to the spot and saw that it left no trace of what she threw. He glanced at Kisuke who then adverted his eyes to Yamamoto.

"Hmmmm. I've never seen her use that before. Interesting..."

"Lieutenant Kira." stated Yamamoto. Izuru grunted and looked at the head Captain.

"Yes Captain Yamamoto?" he asked.

"Go after your new Captain." Izuru looked around and saw the jealous looks he was getting.

"Captain? You mean Captain Kurosaki is my new Captain?" his voice got stronger and more excited.

"Go find her, she's always prone to causing trouble."

Izuru saluted to Yamamoto and went on his way to find his new Captain. He ran past Ichigo and Rukia and stopped to talk with them.

"Kurosaki... I'm going to go find Captain Kurosaki." he squinted afterwards.

"What? She's gone?" questioned Ichigo. "Where'd she go?" he poked Izuru on the chest.

"She took Ukitake back to his quarters, and now I have to go find her."

"Why would that be?"

"I'm her new Lieutenant, she's the new Captain of Squad Three." Ichigo snorted and looked down at Rukia.

"Seriously, Squad Three huh?"

"H-hey! Don't make fun of the squad." stated Izuru, Ichigo rolled his eyes and looked to the sky.

"Hey Rukia, where's your Captain's quarters?"

"I can show it to you guys if you want." she said

"I will show you to Captain Ukitake's quarters!" screamed a voice. Then a shove could be heard and another voice screamed "No, I WILL show you to the Captain's quarters!" Ichigo and the others looked up and saw Kiyone and Sentaro going at it again. They both share the third seat for the thirteenth division, and they even share the same birthday.

Ichigo, Rukia, and Izuru looked at each other and walked away from the bickering two. "Let's just go on our own." mumbled Ichigo. He wanted to know where his Aunt was, and he wanted to ask her some important questions.

"WHAT ABOUT US!?" screamed Ikkaku and Yumichika. They stood there with frowns and watched Ichigo and the others run away. Kiyone and Sentaro stopped fighting and also watched them run off.

"Well that was rude." scoffed Yumichika.

--

"So how're you feeling now Jyuushiro?" asked Rei as she looked over towards him.

He smiled and waved his hand. "I'm fine now. I see you're still inventing strange things."

"Strange? How is an orb, that can take you anywhere strange?" Jyuushiro scratched the back of his head and looked to the ceiling.

"Actually I don't know. He was always telling me how you had weird inventions. I guess this is the first normal one." Rei chuckled and looked to the window.

"He always made fun of what I made, no matter what."

"I have to ask you this, is he y-"

"Yeah he is. But don't tell anyone the truth." Rei placed her finger up to her lips. "Well I think that I should be going now, I don't want to worry Ichigo."

"He sure has taken a liking to you very quickly. I heard that he doesn't do that to very many people."

"It's just in his nature to do that. All Kurosaki's have a hard time opening up and accepting people." Rei walked to the door and gripped the handle.

"So is he..."

"He's in the field, waiting for you."

"I see. Well I'm off, I'll see you later." Rei walked out of the door and ran into a blunt object.

"Look we found her." said Ichigo blatantly. Rei looked up and scoffed, "I was coming right back, there was no need t-"

"You just can't go off wherever you please."

"Look kid, I can go wherever I want, I'm an adult." Ichigo crossed his arms and mumbled "Well you don't look like one."

Rei grabbed the front of his clothes and pulled him in closely.

"What did you say? I couldn't hear you child."

"Pshh nothing Mommy Dearest." Rei let go of him and looked in his eyes.

"What did you call me?"

"Let's go. I bet that the old guy wants to talk with you still."

Rei looked behind Ichigo and saw that there was people behind him. She arched an eyebrow as she looked at Izuru.

"Um Captain Kurosaki, you're now my Captain, so you're t-"

"Squad three huh..." Rei squinted her eyes and looked at Ichigo, he was doing the exact same face. "Who was your Captain before me?"

"Captain Ichimaru." he stated harshly

"Gin Ichimaru was your Captain. Well how ironic is that?" she scoffed.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, it's nothing. Let's get back to the court." Rei sighed and walked past them.

"Oh Rei, maybe you should go visit them later... They're bound to know that you're here." said Jyuushiro.

Rei turned around with a sad face and nodded, She then turned around and ran off quickly. Ichigo tried to run after her, but Ukitake placed his arm over his chest.

"She needs to do this alone."

A/N: Ah crap I forgot to post this on here! D: I had it on DeviantART but not on here... I'm sorry! :'( I'm glad that I finally remembered! Anyway I hope you like the new chapter!


	7. Barriers

Chapter 7

Running... that's all she ever did... ran away from home, ran away from life, ran away from him. But now she was running back to the place where she left by force and by choice. Rei used one of her orbs and teleported past the large wall that the gate keeper watched. After she landed off in a field, she ran through the rukongai and passed thorough the villages at breakneck speed. Her shunpo wasn't as fast as it used to be, but she still could move around freely. Of course she wasn't as fast at Yoruichi, but she was better off than most people.

Rei stopped next to a tree and placed her hand upon it. The grave was still there, and she could tell that it was well taken care of still. _Probably by his family, _she thought as she stared at the granite-like stone. Her knees started shaking as she near the tombstone, she still blamed herself for it. Even though she was nowhere near the scene when it happened, it was her fault that he died. It was her fault for not going there herself and taking care of it.

Then she thought of a second, _I'm a Kurosaki, dammit! I don't need to be scared over a slab of rock! -_In truth, she was absolutely terrified of it.

"Over here idiot, make sure you have the flowers." said a loud voice off in the distance.

Rei stood by the tree and sighed. She couldn't even walk up to the grave and take a look at it. The girl could at least pay her respects, but the voices were getting closer to the site.

"Shit..." she mumbled as she turned around to leave. As the young Captain walked through the trees to leave, the group of people heading to the grave saw the back of her white coat.

"What's a Shinigami captain doing here, Sis?" grumbled the deep voice.

The elder of the two smirked and saw the orange hair flicker in the sunlight. She walked over to the grave and whispered, "It seems the dead really do come back."

----------

"What do you mean that she needs to do this alone?!" spat Ichigo as he tried to get past Captain Ukitake. She was his Aunt, he had every damn right to go follow her. She was apart of his family again and Ichigo didn't let anything happen to his family.

"Captain Kurosaki just needs to go visit something real quick, then she'll be back before you know it. Trust me," Jyuushiro gave a large smile and tilted his head to the side.

_They're so similar, all Kurosaki's are alike._

"Ichigo," said Rukia as she looked up at him, "Trust him. He knows what he's talking about." she gave him a soft smile that Ichigo couldn't describe anything less than _Cute-- what the Hell are you thinking! _thought the substitute Shinigami. How could that little midget be cute to him?

"Ichigo?" asked Rukia again, her violet gaze piercing his amber. The young Kurosaki shook his head slightly and smiled, "Yeah, ok Rukia. I'll do it."

Jyuushiro laughed softly and smiled, _Like Father, like Son. No doubt about it._

The four sat down on small cushions and stayed silent, especially Izuru. They even forgot that he was there becasue he was so quiet. Ichigo didn't like to speak with people he didn't know very well, and Captain Ukitake was one of them still. Sure he gave him his soul badge, but it's not like he really knew the man.

"So," said ichigo with a sigh, " You know my Aunt?"

"Don't talk about me behind my back." stated the voice from behind them. Rei stood in the doorway with her arms crossed on her chest. She smirked at the four and nodded her head, "Come on you two, we need to get back home. And as for you," she made a weird gesture with her hand as she tried to remember, "Izuru, I believe. You can watch over the squad while I'm gone."

Kira nodded in response and walked up to Rei, " Alright, I'll go back and tell Captain Yamamoto." She smiled and waved as Izuru excused himself and left.

The strawberry Captain opened the bag that hug at her sash and sighed, "Man... I'm running low on these. Guess I'll have to go back to the house."

"House?" asked Ichigo as he stood to his feet. His brain didn't realize that she had a house here, maybe he wasn't paying too much attention.

_"Rei didn't live in Seireitei when she was a Captain. She was the only Captain that lived out in the country. She wanted to get away from her ex-husband."_

Rei gave a weird look towards Ichigo and then nodded, "Of course I had a house; where did you think I lived, a cave of something?" she then grinned and headed for the door. "Come along you two, I guess we're going to the house."

Ichigo and Rukia nodded and started to follow the older woman. Captain Ukitake stood up from his seat and smiled, "Good bye everyone, and don't get into trouble!" he smiled wider when his eyes shifted over to Rei, who just rolled her eyes from his remark.

"We're off," Rei ran out of Ukitake's quarters and the other two shinigami followed close behind. They made it to the edge of Seireitei and saw the Seiremon that surrounded the city. Rei pulled out one of her orbs again and kept her eyes on the wall, "Grab onto me and don't let go."

The two grabbed onto her shoulders and she threw the small ball on the ground; a puff of blue smoke surrounded them. Ichigo and Rukia covered their mouths and coughed when the smoke entered their lungs.

"You two are such babies." scoffed the older woman as she stared to walk away. She looked back at Ichigo and Rukia and then back at the Seiremon, "Come on, I wanna get this over with." she stared using her shunpo again and left the other two in the dust.

"Wa- wait!" yelled Ichigo as he started charging after his Aunt. She sure was reckless, just like her nephew.

"Come on slow poke!" she laughed to herself as she sped up. Ichigo slung Rukia over his shoulder and started to chase after her.

"ICHIGO, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" shouted the small shinigami as she pounded her fists into Ichigo's back. He ignored the hits and screams as he ran even faster after Rei. He was catching up to her but suddenly felt like time was slowing down. Ichigo looked around the scene and saw that Rukia wasn't moving at all, her fists were in mid-air and just stayed there.

Rei still ran in front of him, so he kept following her even though his body was slowing down. Ichigo finally caught up to Rei, and saw a bright light in front of her. She stepped aside and Ichigo saw a large mansion sitting on a hill.

"What..." he muttered as he looked around. He heard Rukia's yelling and felt her small hands beating against his back again. He looked back towards the way they came and saw nothing but vast fields, he didn't even see a tree. Ichigo looked back at his Aunt and saw her heading to the mansion.

"Hey, wait!" he shouted as he ran up next to her, "Where the hell are we?"

Rei looked at him and sighed, "We're at Kurosaki manor, where else would we be?" she started up the large staircase and Ichigo followed her, oblivious that Rukia was still on his shoulder.

"Kurosaki manor? Why would it be Kurosaki, I though you were married to a Sh-"

"It's our ancestor's place." Rei had an unemotional look on her face as she kept ascending the stairs. She didn't like to talk about her family at all, except for isshin.

"Ancestors?" asked Ichigo as he kept following his Aunt.

"You know of the four Aristocratic families of the Soul Society, do you not?"

Rukia lifted her head up and looked back at Rei, "The Kuchiki, the Shihoin... and the Shiba family? There's one more, right?"

"The Shiba's fell out of the ranks years ago. That was when there were called the Five Great Aristocratic Families. But there was also another family that fell out of the gap around the same time as the Shiba's. And that would be the-"

"Kurosaki." stated a cold voice from the top of the stairs. The trio looked up at the person and stared. "I thought you died years ago, and yet here you are. I knew he was a Kurosaki brat just by looking at that kid's hair."

Rei responded sharply with an arched eyebrow, "What are you doing here?"

"I've just come to see for myself, after-all, we are related." the person placed her lone hand on her hip and smirked.

"We are. but that doesn't allow you to pass through the barrier because of that." Rei took a few more step up and stopped.

"True, but you made the barrier for the Kurosaki's and Shiba's to pass through; I only thought that I should visit for a second." the woman's eyes shifted down to Ichigo, who was speechless and pointing a finger at her.

"Long time no see, kid." she nodded her head at him and smirked wickedly.

"Ku- Kukaku Shiba?"

A/N: Holy crap, I haven't updated in eons. Wow, just wow. D: And yes, I know that the Ichi-nee is wrong and should be Ichi-nii in the first few chapters, thanks for pointing that out. And I'm not gonna change it because I don't care. XD Sorry.


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